Commonwealth

Commonwealth Correspondent wins CNN African Journalist Award

Femi Asu, a young Commonwealth Correspondent and reporter from Nigeria, has been announced as the winner of a prestigious CNN African Journalist Award. Femi, who writes for The Punch national daily newspaper in Lagos, was presented the Ecobank Economics and Business category award by Richard Uku, former Communications Director at the Commonwealth Secretariat at a gala ceremony in Nairobi, Kenya. Femi was one of 31 finalists from 15 African countries to be shortlisted. He started his journalism career as a student reporter at the University of Ado-Ekiti and became a Commonwealth Correspondent in 2012,…Read more

Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting 2015 (CHOGM)

Commonwealth Secretariat The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) will be held in Malta between 27-29 November 2015. The theme of this year's CHOGM is 'The Commonwealth - Adding Global Value' This year's theme focuses on how the Commonwealth’s strengths can be utilised to influence and effect change on important global issues, such as human rights, gender equality, climate finance, building resilience in small states and the empowerment of youth. The theme also reflects how the Commonwealth can make a positive difference to the lives of its citizens. To visit the official CHOGM website click CHOGM 2015  Read more

Radio France Internationale correspondent in Cameroon held over a month, denied access to lawyer

Committee to Protect Journalists The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned by the detention of a Nigerian journalist who has been held for more than a month in Cameroon and denied access to his lawyer for two weeks. CPJ also calls on Cameroonian authorities to explain the reason for Ahmed Abba's detention and allow him immediate access to his lawyer. Abba, a Nigerian national and a correspondent for Radio France Internationale's Hausa service, was arrested by Cameroonian officials in Maroua, the capital of the Far North Region, of Cameroon on July 30, according…Read more

Gunmen open fire on Geo TV broadcast van in Karachi, killing one

Committee to Protect Journalists A Geo TV technician was killed and a driver for the privately owned Pakistani station was injured today in a shooting in Karachi, according to media reports. Arshad Ali Jafri, the technician, was shot seven times in the attack, and the driver was shot twice in the shoulder but managed to drive to a hospital, police told local media. Two other Geo media workers near the van escaped injury. Unidentified gunmen on motorcycles opened fire on the broadcast van when it was parked on the street, according to reports. Police have…Read more

Alleged killers of Balochistan journalist and his colleagues apprehended

Pakistan Press Foundation Pakistan's law enforcement agencies succeeded in their efforts and have arrested the alleged killers of Baloch journalist Irshad Mastoi and two of his colleagues. During a 2 September 2015 press conference at the Home Ministry, Balochistan Home Minister Mir Safaraz Bugti informed media that the apprehended individuals had confessed to the 2014 killing of journalists in Quetta, capital of Balochistan province. He further stated the suspects belonged to the banned Baloch Liberation Army (BLA). He identified the killers as Shafqat Ali Rodani, whose code name is Naveed, and Ibrahim Nachari,…Read more

Maldives journalist missing for more than a year, groups deplore government’s inaction

International Federation of Journalists The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and its affiliate the Maldives Journalists Association (MJA) express solidarity with the Maldivian media community as they mark the one year anniversary of the disappearance of local journalist, Ahmed Rilwan Abdulla. The IFJ and MJA deplore the inaction by the Maldivian Government to investigate the journalist's disappearance and join local and international demands for an independent inquiry. On August 8, 2014, the Minivan News journalist went missing. Rilwan was last seen boarding a ferry traveling to Hulhumale Island from the capital Male. The…Read more

Two arrested in Sri Lanka five years after journalist’s disappearance

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and its affiliate the Free Media Movement (FMM) welcome the arrest of two former military officials over the disappearance of Prageeth Eknaligoda. The IFJ and FMM urge the government to ensure the investigation is thoroughly completed and all those responsible are brought to justice. On August 8, 2015 two former members of the military intelligence service were arrested over the disappearance of Sri Lankan journalist, Prageeth Eknaligoda. According to reports, the pair confessed to the abduction of Prageeth and handing him over to an army camp in…Read more

Gambian media worker held illegally by National Intelligence Agency, charged with sedition

Reporters Without Borders Reporters Without Borders (RSF) is alarmed by the judicial uncertainty hanging over Teranga FM radio manager Alagie Ceesay, who was brought before a Banjul court on a sedition charge on 4 August and again yesterday. Ceesay had been missing since 17 July before appearing in court on 4 August and, before that, he was held incommunicado for 11 days during the first half of July. His trial is due to start on 18 August. Ceesay is facing a possible fine of 50,000 to 200,000 dalasi for allegedly using his mobile…Read more

Jail term and radio station raid fuel concern in Zimbabwe

Reporters without Borders Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe’s government seems to be taking a tougher line with the media, raiding a community radio station and imposing a prison sentence on a journalist in the space of a week. The latest events follow weeks of gathering storm clouds for the media in Zimbabwe, a country that saw 22 media freedom violations in 2014 and whose president who is on the Reporters Without Borders list of “Predators of Press Freedom.” “The two latest developments have sounded a new alarm for media freedom, which is already very…Read more

Commonwealth Secretariat celebrates 50 years

The Commonwealth Secretariat this year celebrates 50 years since it was established, and on 25 June will mark the 50th anniversary of the day in 1965 on which Arnold Smith assumed office as the first Secretary-General. The decision to establish the Secretariat had been taken a year before at a meeting of Commonwealth Prime Ministers in London to carry forward the innovative suggestion of setting up an impartial, independent, intergovernmental ‘central clearing house.’ It was to be ‘a visible symbol of the spirit of co-operation which animates the Commonwealth’ with core values of…Read more